Legal Question in Personal Injury in Georgia

If he died without a settlement, the estate is generallyt divided based on the state where he resided. There would need to be a probate. Without a probate, no heir has authority to accept the money.

I interpret your question to mean that he died in Georgia, but without a will. If so, the proceeds of a wrongful death settlement or judgment are divided among the heirs as follows: Wife of deceased and children of deceased share equally except if there are more than 2 children, in which case the wife gets 1/3 share and remainder is split equally among the children. This is set by statute. An estate needs to be set up with an administrator appointed. This is usually done by agreement of the family members. If no agreement can be reached on that issue, someone files in the probate court asking to be the administrator, serves everyone else, a hearing is held and the court decides. The wife is the "personal representative" of the deceased for purposes of asserting the wrongful death claim in court (this is also set by statute). Entire books have been written on this subject as things can vary on a case by case basis. The above is the very short version.